Florida sues OpenAI over AI liability and age‑verification claims

On June 1 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a ten‑count civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman. The complaint alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, including claims of negligence, gross negligence, strict liability, fraudulent misrepresentation and public nuisance. It says OpenAI failed to provide effective parental controls and age‑verification mechanisms, and accuses the company of enabling harms such as suicide encouragement, mass‑shooter assistance and addiction among minors. Florida seeks a court order requiring OpenAI to verify the age of every ChatGPT user, potentially mandating government‑ID checks or facial‑scan verification.

OpenAI has already introduced an age‑estimation system that uses behavioral profiling and third‑party verification (Persona) to flag likely minors, but the lawsuit argues this is insufficient. If the court accepts Florida’s framing of AI software as a defective product subject to strict liability, the case could set a precedent that extends product‑liability doctrine to AI models, affecting not only OpenAI but also downstream developers, API integrators and the broader AI supply chain.